Merchandise-vending machine.



0/ 0 v 9 J, /51 1/ N 1 1 V (ii-Mme Tow J. G. MCBRIDE & T. A. BLAIR. MERCHANDISE VENDING M'AGHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED mo. 20 1911.

Patented Feb. 11,1913.

5 SHEETS-$111131 1.

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J. C. MCBRIDBtiE T. A BLAIR. MERCHANDISE VENDING MA'OH'INB.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 26. 1911.

1,052,607. Patented Feb. 11, 1913.

5 SHEETS-*SHEET 2.

gmwmfow wanes A09 723 6 a 5/652 J. C. MCBRIDE & T. A. BLAIR. MERCHANDISE VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DDO.26.1911. 1,052,607. Patented Feb. 11, 1913.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

-' n i re 7/ J. C. MCBRIDE & T. A, BLAIR.

MERCHANDISE VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION TILED DEC. 26, 1911 1,052, 01 Patented Feb. 11, 1913.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

WWW JKMC 57; 26 ""0 5/6; z 7*- J. G. MCBRIDE & T. A. BLAIR.

MERCHANDISE VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.26,1911.

Patented Feb. 11,1913.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5 Witt wows .chandise vending apparatus.

ever a coin is inserted in the coin slot.

UNITED STATES EgTENT OFFICE.

JOHN C. MOBRIDE AND TOM A. BEAIR, OF BOULDER, COLORADO; SAID BLAIR ASSIGNOB '10 SAID MUBBIDE.

MERCHANDISE-VENDING MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN C. MCBRIDE and TOM A. BLAIR, citizens of the United States, residing at Boulder, county of Boulder, and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Merchandise-Vending Machines; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in machines for vending merchandise by the use of a coin, which, when inserted, serves to actuate the mechanism to release a package of whatever kind the machine is constructed to deliver.

Our improved device, as illustrated in the drawing, is more especially designed for vending newspapers, though it is evident that it may be employed to advantage in sending various other articles of merchanise.

The invention is especially adapted for use in vending newspapers, since it may be permanently located in hotels and other public places, thus making it practicable to obtain newspapers at any time during the day or night, and thus making it unnecessary to wait for news boys or visit newsstands, the latter being only open during specified hours of the day. Furthermore, our improved machine has an additional advantage, since the papers delivered thereby are always perfectly clean, not having been handled by news boys or others. It very frequently happens that papers, when bought upon the street, are considerably soiled and injured. All of this is obviated bv the employment of our improved meradapted to when- Furthermore, provision is made whereby it becomes impossible to secure a paper by the introduction of a wrong coin, since the latter will not follow the chute necessary in order to actuate the paper delivering mechanism.

Our improved construction is automatically deliver a newspaper Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed December 26, 1911. Serial No. 667,860.

Patented Feb. 11, 1913.

We have, however, devised a form of construction adapted to be used by two pennies in succession, whereby such papers as it is desired to sell at two cents each may be obtained from the machine.

Still another important feature of the machine consists of the construction Whereby, when the aper holding carriage has moved forwardly to its limit of movement and has discharged all of the pa ers originally placed therein, a plate wil be autpmatically placed in posit-ion to close the coin slot, the word Empty being visible on the plate in front of the slot to notify the would-be customer of the cause of such closure.

Having briefly outlined our improved construction, we will proceed to describe the same in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawing, in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In this drawing: Figure 1 is an elevation of the device with the side-door open, the mechanism within being partly broken and partly in section. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of a portion of the construction shown in Fig. 2,

ut ona larger scale. Fig. 4 is a fra mentary view partly in section and partly in elevation, illustrating the mechanism disclosed at the lower lefthand corner of Fig. 1, the parts, however, being shown on a larger scale. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of the forward part of the construction, or the part shown at the right of Fig. 1, but on a larger scale. Fi 6 is a view partly in elevation and parfy in section of the upper rigiithand corner of the mechanism shown on the same scale as in Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a fragmentary top plan view of the construction, the casing being shown in horizontal section, the parts being illustrated on a larger scale than in Fig. 2. Fig. 8 is a fragmentary enlarged detail view of the carrier. Fig. 9 is a detail view of the spring for actuatin the carrier, the shaft or spindle with which it is connected at one extremity being shown in cross section, which is also detail View illustrating the manner of mounting the carrier on its support. l2 is a detail View of two sprocket whech having different numbers of teeth.

The same reference charat'rtcr indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate a casing,

which, illustrated in the drawing, is providcd on one side with a door (3, hinged at 7. A second door 1 is provided at the batk t of the casing and extends to the floor thereof. When the door t3 open. the operating mechanism is disclosed. This will now be described.

The mechanism within the casing 5 may be so located that it entirely removable therefrom and capable of being [)lutt'd in a suitable housing of any kind. Hence, it will be understood that the inclosed and constitute a part of a cigarstand cabinet or other similar or suitable structure conveniently located for dispensing newspapers or other articles.

Suitably journaled within a frame 8 located within the casing or other housing is a shaft or spindle 9. As illustrated in the drawing, the extremities of this spindle are journaled in upright parts it). Mounted and made fast on the shaft near its opposite extremities are two sprocket wheels 12, which are engaged by chains or other suitable flexible devices 3, the extremities of the said chains being respectively connected with the extremities of a carrier member l t composed of sections 15 hinged together, as shown at 16, whereby the carrier is made sutlicicntly flexible to pass around a rotary bar 17 located at the forward extremity of the horizontally-disp scd bars 18 forming a supDort for the carrier. These carrier sections, as illustrated in the drawing, are constructed to receiie newspapers or other suit able or similar articles or packages 1.). Ti; is intended, howcyer, in this application. to illus rate a construction particularly adapt ed for use in vending newspapers. and the spec fic construction disclosed should, therc-- forc. be considered with special reletrnce to dispensing papers.

Hlidably mounted on the bars 1* and connected with the rear extremity of the carrier 14 are two upright. members 20, which form a support for the papers in the rear. The carrier is adapted to receive as many papers as therr are sections 15.

A coiled spring 21 is connected at one ex tremity with the shaft 9, as shown at 22, its opposite extremity being secured to the frame 8 within the casing, as shown at 23. Also fast on the shaft 9 is a ratchet wheel 24, the teeth of which are engaged in the rear by a pawl "J5 pivoted as shown at 26 on a stationary part 27. The upper extremity 28 of this pawl is pivotally conn'iechanistn may be i sulliciently stiff to make the part a; at

as it general function is concerned. The object of the yielding part 28 is ti make it I practica le to turn the shaft it t wind the. spring 21 withcut operating the body por- 'tion of the pawl 25, tt'QtlllOt' with other parts connected thcri with, as hereitmi'ter x 1 plained.

l ()n the opposite side of the ratchrt wheel 24 from the pawl 25 is located a pawl 32, which is Ushaped in cross section, its closed l side being pen. as shown at Il-l. to receive i the teeth of the rat het wheel. This. pawl 9,2 cooperates with the pawl in controlling the rotation of the ratchet wheel under 1 the influence of the springaetuated shaft 9, the latter having a normal tenden y to rotate in a direction to unwind the spring. The two pawls Q5 and 12 are conne ted by a link 34, the extremities of the link being pivotally connected with the pawls. as shown at 35 and 36, respectively. The pawl 32 is pivotally connected with the stationary part 27. as shown at 37.

Connected, shown at 35, with the upper extremity of the pawl 33, is the rear eX- tren'iity of a rod 39, Whose forward extremity is pivotally connected, as shown at,- ltl, with one arm of a bellcrank lever 41 fulcrnmed at 4,12, its opposite arm being pivotally connected, as hown at l t, with the lower extremity of a rod it, whose upper extremity pivotaily zi iili ttt 'h i'trs shown at 15, with a lever 44) t'ulcrumed at it. This lever i is of the general hape of a hell crank, but has a relatively long arm to Which extend downwardly from its fulcrum, its lower extremity terminatingbrlow the hell crank lcvcr ll Conne ted with the lever arm in, inttu'inediate it extremities. as shown at it is an arm to which is: for-- wardly inclined from theevi-r arn: XS, 11a lower rxtremity belt with the arm {1% hr a part Iii.

lower end of the low llx'ortnaliy, the arm In) twtrude into the lower extremity of a coin-chute :32. whose mouth regi ters with an opening in a coin receptacle 533. The body of this coin chute (see Fig. 1), extends vertically upwardly in the forward part of the casing. its upper part extending: rearwardly, as sh wn at 54, and thence upwardly, terminating in a part forming an angle 5t) with the part 54. A branch chute 57 communicates at its for- Ward extremity, which is open, with an opening 58 formed in the upper pa rt of the casing, said opening being adapted to receive a coin for operating the devil-e, The opposite extremity of the branch'ehutc 5'7 stantially a rigid part of the pawi. so far llt) communicates with the upper extremity 55 of the main coinchute' 62. This branch chute 67 has upper and lower flanges 59 and 60, which are so arranged as to cage the up r and lower edges of the coin which is to h: employed in operating the mechanism. It is. assumed that the min used will be a nickel. Hence, when a nickel is inserted in throughthe verti the chute, PM!

-, gages therpart H the opening 68, it will follow the bran ch chute 67 into. thepart 65 of the main coinchute, thence throu the part 56 and finally ly-disposed body part of downwardly where it enconnected with the lever arm 4:8, .as heretofore ex lained. The

weight of this coin acts to orce the lever' arm 48 'rearwardly and raise the short'arm of the lever 46, thus-lifting the rod 44 and actuatin the bell crank lever 41 to move the 89 rearward] sufliciently to swing the pawl 82 toward t e ratchet 24 to tial rotation in cause a tooth'of the said ratchet to enter the opening 33 of the .ratchet against movement until the lastnamed pawl is moved forward] through the instrumentality of a spring 6 which is connected at one extremity with the upper part of the-pawl 82, and at its opposite extremity wit the rear ,end of a rod 65, the

opposite end of the rod being secured, as s own at 66, to a stationary part of the frameworkr Every time-a coin asses through the chute 52 and act'sgupon t e lever 46, as heretofore explained, the operation just described is repeated, and the shaft 9 l8 a1- lowed, under the influence of its spring 21,

tomake a sutlicient rotati'onto allow the carrier 14 to move forwardly far enough to dischar a paper 19, or other artic]e,'-at the forwa extremity of the' machine, the -latter havmga passage 67 through which the paper is allowed to fall downwardly and escape atthe bottom of the machine through an'open1ng6 8.

As illustrated in the drawing, the rotary bar'17.-makes a quarter rotary movement every time the carrier-is released, through the instrumentalitv of a coin, as heretofore explained.g This rotary action of the bar. 17

.is suflicient, after the paper 19 has reached the foremost ition indicated by dotted lines in Fig. to drop the p per into the space 67 and allow it to fa ljthroiigh the opening 68, .as heretofore described. The

.through the coin opening, the

number of sides of the bar 17 may be regulated, as desired. In other words, for a iven movement of the carrier, each section %5 of the carrier, when it reaches the bar 17, ma be caused to make either a quarter or a t ird of a rotation, or any other desired part of a revolution, depending up n the number of sides which the bar contains. It is desirable to have this bar so constructed as to positively insure the throwing of the paper into the s ace 67, whereby-it is caused to completcl c ear the carrier. At one extremity of t c shaft 9, being that which is exposed when the door 6 is opened, is located a disk (39, which is made fast to the shaft and provided with numerals from 1 to a numeral indicatingthe number of pars which the device is adapted to hold. This disk is of sutiicient size to form a convenient means, when grasped by the hand of the person in charge of the machine, for rotatm verse 0% the arrow a, (s'ee Fig. 4), for winding the spring 21. When the carrier is at its rearward limit of movement, the numeral 1 is 'ust in the rear of a peep-holc 70 formed in t e door 6, which, of course, is then in the closed position. As each paper-drops from the machine, the carrier, and consequently, the upper part of the disk 69 makes a forward movement, the movement of the disk being just sufficient to bring an additional numeral on the disk into range with,

the peep-hole 70, hence, by looking throu" this peep-hole at any time, the m'mber f pa ers sold may be ascertained;

hen the carrier-'14 has traveled to its forward limit of movement and all the papers. have been discharged from the machine, a projection 71, carried by one ofthe upright parts 20 of the carrier engages the forward extremity 72 of a be] 'crank lever 73 fulcrumed at 74, the opposite extremity-75 ofthis lever being connected .by means of a rod 76 with a late 77, which normally oc cupies' a position below the coin openin 58 of the casing. The movement imparteii to the bell crank lever 73 when engaged by the projection 71, as aforesaid, is suiticient to actuate the rod 76 and lift the plate 77 to close the opening 58 to prevent the entrance of a coin after all the papers have been discharged from the machine. This plate prefers ly carries on the p'art exposed word Empty, which notifies the would-be 'customer that there are no more papers in the machine. I

In order to prevent the possibility of tamper'ing with the machine by inserting an in-' strument upwardly'through the opening 68, the lower part of the s ace 67 is inclosed in the frontand rear by wa ls 70 and 80. A plate- 81, normally closes thespace 82 between the the shaft 9 in the direction the rewalls 79' and 80, this plate being hinged, as shown at83, and-normally held in the closed position. by an arm 84 carryin a-counterbalance weight 85. This weiglit holds the edge of the plate 81, remote from the hinge, in engagement with the lug or sent 78, thus preventing. the part 81 from being moved upwardly. Hence, this plate prevents the introduction of an instrument throu h the bottom opening 68 far enough to enable the user to tamper with the machine.

Forward of the since 67, into which the papers or other articles fall, when discharged from the carrier, are located upper and lower horizontally-arranged grooves and 87 adapted to receive a plate 88 to which a paper, magazine or other article may be applied, the same being visible through the glass plate 89 set into the front wall of the casing. This article may be fixedly connected with the plate 88, whereby a person who glances at the front part of the casing may readily see the character of the contents of the machine. This plate 88 is readily removable, when the door (3 is open. and the article thereon may be quickly changed, if it is desired to displace the contents of the machine and substitute other papers, magazines or articles of any character.

The arm 60 connected with the lever 46, as heretofore explained, is so arranged that it enters both of the chutes and 52 in such a manner that a coin passing through either chute will actuate the lever 40 to release the carrier and allow the latter to make a step-by-step movement, as heretofore explained, assuming that pennies are successively employed to obtain papers or other articles from the machine, as heretofore explained.

From the foregoing description, the use and operation of our improved construction will be readily understood. Assuming that the carrier is at its rearward limit of movement, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 7, it is only necessary to open the door'ti in order to fill the machine with papers, which may be set edgewise in the sections 15 of the carrier, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3. The door is then locked, and the device is ready for use, assuming that the shaft 9 has been actuated to wind the spring 21. Then, if a nickel is inserted in the o ienint' 58, whereby it is caused to enter the branci chute 57, it passes downwardly therethrough and engages the nut 50 to actuate the lever 40 and release t ie shaft 0 by virtue of the connection between the lever 40 with the parts 44, 41, 39, 32 and 25. During this operation, the rod 39 is thrust rearwardly, imparting corresponding movements to the pawls 32 and 25, whereby the latter is disengaged from the ratchet .24, while the pawl 32 is placed in the path of a tooth 63 of the said ratchet in such position as to allow the latter to move half the distance of a tooth. As soon as this occurs, the action of the spring 64 will reverse the movement of the rod 39, allowing the ratchet to complete its partial rotation, whereby it is allowed to travel the length of a single tooth, after which the pawl 2 will engage the next tooth and again lock the ratchet against movement, until the next coin is inserted.

Referring again to the rotary bar or shaft 17, attention is called to the fact that, as illustrated in the drawing, this shaft is square in cross section, and its faces are of the same area and arrangedto fit the inner or adjacent faces 104 of the merchandisecarrying sections 15. By virtue of this arrangement, as this shaft or bar extends the entire width of the carrier, the hinges of,

the carrier members coincide as to position with the corners of the bar 17, and, by virtue of this arrangement, the carrier sections are accurately alined in a transverse direction with the sides or faces of the said bar, and, by virtue of this construction and arrangement, it is impossible for the carrier sections to get out of accurate transverse alinement. This is a very important. feature, since it is desirable that, when the paper or other article is discharged, or in position to be discharged by the carrier, every art of the carrier section should release tie paper or other article at the same time, and this condition must exist where the paper-carrying sections are kept in accurate alinement with the shaft or bar 17.

In order to lock the coin-box or receptacle 53 in place within the casing, we employ two dates 105 and 106, which are hinged toget icr at 107. The plate 105 extends upwardly from the hinge 107 and is provided with an opening adapted to receive a lug 108,,with which one end of the box 53 is provided. This lug, after passing through the opening in the plate 105, is equipped with a adlock 100, the hasp of which is iassed tirough an o iening .110 in the lug. lhe plate normally occupies a liori'/.ontal position lying flat upon the bottom of the casing, and its extremity, remote from the hinge, is hinged, as shown at 119. to a stationary part 113. Now when it is desired to remove the box, it 18 only necessary to open the door 6 and unlock the padlock. After this is done, the plate 10:), by virtue of its hinged connection with the plate 106. may he disengaged from the lug 108, after wlnch the two plates and 106 may he swung toward the left on the hinge 112, thus getting these parts out of the way and making room for the removal of the coin box 53.

The upright members 20, forming a sup port for the papers in the rear, as heretorelation,

fore explained, are equipped with sleeves 120, which closely fit the supporting bars 18 and slide freely thereon in telescoping thus forming a firm connection with the said bars and preventing the carrier sections from getting out of transverse alinement.

In the form of construction shown in Figs. 10 and 12, provision is made for handling relatively large papers, as Sunday papers, which would be too large to enter a single section 15 of the carrier. In this event, an auxiliary sprocket wheel 121 is employed, the regular sprocket 24 being moved out of alinement with the pawls 25 and 32, and the sprocket 121 moved into alinement with said pawls. In order to do this, it is only necessary to remove a pin 122, which fastens the sprocket 24 to the shaft 9, slide the sprocket 24 out of the way, and move the sprocket 121 into its place and secure it to the shaft by means of a pin or other suitable fastening device. The teeth of the sprocket 122 are far enough apart to allow the carriage to travel the width of two sections 15 of the carrier every timehe shaft 9 is released by the introduction f a coin in the manner heretofore explained. Furthermore, in order to make it practicable to place the large papers on the carrier, the flanges 123 are cut away, as shown at 124, of every other section at one extremity, or at one side of the carrier, making room for the folded end of the Sunday paper, so that it may lie flat orpfthe bottoms of two carrier sections, thus allowing the two parallel parts of the paper connected by the bend to occupy two of the small sections 15 ordinarily occupied by separate week-day edition papers. In this manner, and by only a slight change in the mechanism, our improved machine is adapted for use with papers of any size, from the largest to the smallest.

Attention is called to the fact that our improved merchandise vending machine is entirely devoid of exposed operating levers or other devices. Neither are there any openings communicating with the interior mechanism, except the peep-hole 70 and the coin slot Attention is called to the fact that the member of the device in which the newspapers or other merchandise are directly placed, the same being composed of the sections 15, must in this specification be considered one member of an endless carrier, the other member consisting of the flexible devices or chains 13, whose extremities are connected with the opposite ends of the carrier member proper, or the portion of the endless carrier which is directly engaged by the merchandise handled by the machine.

The sprocket Wheels 24 and 121 may both be formed on the same hub, or they may be formed separately, as may be desired. If formed on the same hub, a single locking pin might be employed, the shaft being provided with separated openings to register with the opening in the hub when the sprocket device is in either position.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is 1. In a vending machine for newspapers or the like, a casing, an endless horizontally disposed carrier supported at the end adjacent the front of said casing upon a horizontally disposed shaft, polygonal in cross section, said endless carrier being composed partly of receptacles, the bases of said re ceptacles being hinged together and havin surfaces of equal area with the faces of sai shaft, each of said receptacles having also a front wall adapted, when its receptacle passes over said shaft, to form a positive means for dislodging a paper from the receptacle in front.

2. In a vending machine of the class described, the combination of a spring-actuated shaft, a ratchet wheellfast on said shaft, awls engaging the rat et wheel and normally locking the shaft against movement in response to the tension pf its spring, an endless carrier having a merchandise-'- holding portion, and a portion composed of flexible devices, whose opposite extremities are connected with the merchandiseholding portion, wheels fast on the said shaft and engaged by the said flexible devices, the merchandise-holding portion of the carrier being composed of hinged sections having inner flat faces, and a second shaft rotatably mounted at the end of the carrier remote' from the spring-actuated shaft, the second shaft being polygonal in cross section and whose faces are shaped to fit the inner adjacent faces of the sections of the merchandise-holding part of the carrier, and suitable means for intermittently I releasing the shaft at properly timed intervals to allow the carrier, under the influence of the actuating wheels carried by the spring-actuatedshaft, to make a step-by step movement, substantially asdescribed."

3. In a vending machine, the combination with a spring-actuated shaft, of a ratchet A wheel fast on said shaft, an escapementfor said ratchet, one of the pawls of said escapenient having a pivoted portion at its end normally held in engagement with the ratchet by means of a spring and which when withdrawn against the action of the spring permits the shaft-actuating springto he. rcwound without disturbing the other pawl and parts connected therewith. A

4. In a vending machine, the combination with a spring-actuated shaft, a plurality of ratchet wheels slidably arranged 0h said ehn'fi, mum for lovli'ini any mm of sa ad In testimony whereof W0 affix our signarzliclmi who 4* in rotnh with said shaft, an turns in prosomi-v of two wimessvs. 

